Apocalyptia (Apocalyptia #1)

Chapter 10

Three days. It took three days. Three days of stealing cars. Three days of dragging dead bodies. Three days until they made it to Bluefield. Crystal was sure she would never get the smell of death out of her nose, but she was also sure she would never get used to it, though it seemed Jason and Paul were comfortable around it. Death wasn't something Crystal could fathom becoming comfortable around, but she could accept it. It happened. So she moved the bodies, and then kept moving. Just because those people couldn't move anymore didn't mean she couldn't.

Paul was beyond anything Crystal had seen. He was smiling a lot more, and every time he recognized a tree or flower, he would point it out with enthusiasm and explain some family memory it held. Seeing him talk about his family reminded her of her own family. She wanted to cry, but she was far from sad. She felt closer to them when Paul talked about his family. But darkness still lingered in the corners of those happy memories. No, it wasn't darkness. It was light — a burning, orange light. It was flames. As they came closer and closer to Virginia, the reality was beginning to sink in. She hadn't warned Paul, and there was no way of telling him after they had come so far.

And she knew they were getting closer by how much quicker Paul had started to walk. So far, Crystal was comforted by the fact that everything looked remotely the same. No cities or towns burned down to piles of ash, no mountains of dead bodies to find, nothing but the usual body count and ash count. Maybe Jason had exaggerated, or maybe he had even lied. Why would he? She wasn't sure, but Crystal wouldn't put it past him. Regardless, with Paul almost sprinting ahead of them, it left Crystal and Jason alone a lot of the time, and Jason had a few things to say with Paul out of earshot.

"Have you told him anything?"

Crystal glanced over at him, but his face gave nothing away. He was his usual perky and cheerful self, though his words and tone carried a much darker tone. Crystal looked forward, too, keeping her eyes locked on Paul's back. She was reminded of the first day they traveled together and how she could recall the steady and muscular movements Paul had. Now, his jacket completely enveloped him. He was so much thinner than she remembered, but then she supposed she was, too. How had Jason stayed so pudgy? She probably would never know.

"No. Hadn't had a chance to."

"You do realize we're about an afternoon's walk from Bluefield, right? He's gonna notice something."

Crystal didn't respond. She didn't have to explain herself to Jason, and he didn't have to explain himself to her. All she wanted was peace and quiet, and more time to think. Jason seemed to understand that as he fell completely silent. But Paul hadn't gotten the memo, and it wasn't a second later that he turned towards them, beaming with a joy Crystal never knew he had. How long had it been since he last saw his family?

"We're almost there! I can't believe it isn't snowing. You guys should see it when it snows. It's beautiful."

Jason mumbled something along the lines of, "Snow melts when there's fire," but with a quick elbow in the gut from Crystal, everything else that was said trailed off into a fit of coughs and heavy wheezing. Paul gave them both a confused look, but his smile didn't falter a bit, and it only made Crystal's heart lurch in her chest. There was no way to tell him. He would have to see for himself. And in just a few hours, he did. Though it wasn't what Jason or Crystal had expected.

Paul lived farther up in the mountains than either one of them had anticipated, and when they finally climbed their way up the mountain — much to Jason's dismay — they were met with a perverse scene. It was a log cabin, completely untouched, with only a few meteorites scattered about. It was the only indication that anything had happened to disrupt the usual flow.

Even Paul was surprised about the discovery as he gasped, "It's here. It's still here."

He turned back to look at Crystal, his grin stretching so far across his face, she was sure it hurt him. Crystal looked to Jason, not sure whether she should smile or just wait. Jason looked at her and only shrugged. Neither knew what would happen until they stepped over the threshold of that cabin door, and Paul was beyond ready to find out what — or who — was inside.